Statistical Methods in Psychology:

Psych 302, Spring 2004

__________________________________________________________________Spring 2004 CRN 34152

Lecture: M & W 14:00-15:20, Straub 146, Arrow

Labs (180 Straub): (1) M 16-17:20 (Perez), (2) Tu 8:30-9:50 (Walter) CRN 34153/34154

(3) Tu 14-15:20 (Walter) & (4) Tu 16-17:20 (Perez) CRN 34155/34156

Office Hour Schedule Summary:

Mon 5-6 pm (Holly, 357) Tues 2-4 (Veronica, 320), Wed 4-5 pm (Holly, 357) Fri 11-1 (Elizabeth, 383)

Hours lab room (180) is open: 8am-9pm Mon-Thurs, 8am-5pm Friday, closed weekends. Note: Frequent classes are scheduled in the lab during the day, so the early evening hours are probably your best bet.

Blackboard site: Please check Blackboard regularly (at least once a week) for announcements, discussion, and materials such as lecture notes. Go to http://blackboard.uoregon.edu/ This should show up as a course that you are enrolled in. Your login and password will be whatever you use for your gladstone account.

OVERVIEW OF COURSE STRUCTURE

Course Description: The purpose of this course is to introduce you to descriptive and inferential statistics, teach you fundamental skills in calculating statistics and analyzing data using a computer statistics package, and improve your ability to understand and evaluate the statistical information reported in primary research articles. This is the first of two foundation courses for psych majors.

Course Design: The course is designed to promote active learning -- through discussion, solving problems, writing responses, and computer exercises. Professor and TAs are guides, cheerleaders, and coaches. The course encourages teamwork among students and between students, professor, and TAs. Group quizzes are completed in collaboration with others, and students are free to work together on homework. One potential problem of team learning is that some students may rely too much on others and not master the material. So to pass the course **you must demonstrate your competency as a statistician by passing the final exam.**

Small Group System: Students will organize themselves into small groups of 3-4 people in the same lab section. Group members should sit together during lecture and lab. You will complete group quizzes & work on problems together in lab. You will also review chapter responses from your group members and select a "burning question" to be addressed at the beginning of next class. If a group member is absent, please pick up handouts for them, pass along announcements, and share notes. If you know you will be absent, let someone in your group know in advance. Group members keep track of attendance for their group, and evaluate each other's participation at the end of class. As soon as groups are formed, please exchange e-mails and phone numbers so you can stay in touch.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Overview: You will be graded on your responses (8), homework (8 sets), quizzes (3), and exams (midterm and final). **Students must pass the final to pass the course.** Participation is also worth some points.

1. Participation. (10 pts) Participation includes group work and discussion during class and lab. At the end of the term, each student will evaluate the contributions of other group members. Participation points are based on peer evaluations and TA reports about lab participation.

2. Responses. (32 pts) Each Monday, you will turn in a typed response to the assigned chapters. Responses must (1) identify the three most important points in the reading (2) state one specific question or confusion you would like clarified. Refer to specific page numbers. Example of a GOOD specific question: "On page 330, it says that the Scheffe test is extremely cautious and safe. Does this mean it is better than the Tukey test on page 329? If not, how do we choose?" Example of a VAGUE non-question "I don't understand chapter 13" Always specify WHAT you don't understand. Length: Keep responses short, no longer than 1 page.

3. Homework. (90 pts) Some problems will be completed "by hand" (includes calculators); some using SPSS; some may be completed either way (your choice). To earn full credit, show and explain all work, and annotate printouts. Late homework earns half credit; no credit if more than a week late *unless other arrangements are made in advance with your TA. (TAs grade and are in charge of homework.)

4. Quizzes. (45 pts) The quizzes focus on understanding concepts. Quizzes are closed book, and are completed both individually and by groups. Calculators okay. Groups may challenge points missed on the group quiz. Written challenges are due within a week of when graded group quiz is returned. If the challenge is successful, grades will be adjusted for the group quiz. (Professor is in charge of quizzes and challenges.)

5. Exams. The midterm (23 pts) will be completed as a take-home exam; the final (100 pts) will be given on Tues, June 8, 15:15-17:15, 146 Straub (our regular room). Exams are open book, open notes, calculator, etc., but must be completed individually (no group portions). For midterm and final, you must fly using your own wings and show us what you've learned. All final exams that receive a failing grade (< 60 points) will be double-checked by a second grader. **YOU MUST PASS THE FINAL TO PASS THE COURSE!!**

6. Texts and other resources. The text is Gravetter & Wallnau, Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, 4^th edition. You will also need a hand-held calculator (solar ones are environmentally friendly) that can do single variable statistics. No need for expensive graphic calculators. Read assigned chapters before class and do each Learning Check as you encounter it.. Reread if you have trouble with the Learning Check. The second time, you will understand more. Bring Calculator & Text to class.

SPECIAL NEEDS:

Learning disabilities & athletes. If you have a documented learning disability and need adjustments, or are on a UO sports team and will miss class because of travel, contact Dr. Arrow ASAP. With advance planning, adjustments are relatively easy. Adjustments at the last minute are problematic and sometimes not plausible.

"Repeaters": If you are taking the class for the second (or third) time because you did not get a C- or better in your previous attempt(s), please see Dr. Arrow (during office hours or make an appointment) so we can discuss how to ensure you are successful this time through. You are not alone... and your previous experience will help you do better this time :)

GRADING

* Important Note: To pass the course, *you must pass the final* to demonstrate adequate understanding of the course material. If you demonstrate competence by passing the final (earning at least 60/100 points) you will earn the grade determined by the listed percentages. If you do especially well, and are close to a cutoff, you may be eligible for "mastery" points that push your course grade over the cutoff. Escape hatch: Students who fail the final but whose average grade on homework & quizzes is C- or above (at least 70% correct) may take an incomplete in the course and retake the final later. Deadline for clearing an incomplete is finals week of Fall Term, 2004.

RULES AND POLICIES

Students are sometimes confused about what is allowed in a collaborative learning class. Here are the rules:

Collaborative Learning:

Group portion of quizzes, homework, participation, and studying for exams. Group quiz portion helps everyone understand the material better, because you actively discuss the problems. Discussing homework with other students, with TAs, and comparing your work with others is encouraged. You will often have time to work on homework together in labs. Talking over the problems and reworking them when you discover that others got different answers promotes deeper understanding of concepts and gives you more practice in applying skills. However, each student must submit a separate homework, and you must show your work (no photocopies or word-for-word copying). Many students find that study groups are also useful in preparing for quizzes and exams.

What counts as Cheating in this class:

Your work on the Final Exam, the Midterm, and on Individual Portion of Quizzes must be your own. Copying the work of others on these elements will be considered cheating, and if detected, will earn you an F or N for the course. On exams, you can consult any materials that you have brought to the room, but you may not consult what others are doing. On quizzes (closed book, closed notes), you may not consult anything but your own memory and calculator (or, during group portion, the collective wisdom of your group). Multiple versions of the exams will be created to ensure that copying answers from others will guarantee a poor score, make cheating easy to detect, and thus help protect you against temptation.

TOP FIVE PITFALLS:

1. Passive listening and reading

Write, draw, figure. Think with a pencil to learn. Turn the concepts into something you do. To succeed, you must be able to explain and execute.

2. Spectator overconfidence

Watching someone go through the steps is a starting point only. You have to get in the pool to learn how to swim.

3. Beginner's luck

Doing it right once doesn't mean you can repeat the trick. Get it wrong to understand how the process works. Mistakes help you learn.

4. Trying to cram

You can cram content, but skills, like water, don't compress. Don't fall behind; it's too hard to catch up.

5. Giving up because you get stuck

Everyone gets stuck. Try a new tack. **Ask for help.** Play around. Math is all about getting stuck and unstuck.

THREE WAYS TO DO WELL

1. Keep up and keep trying

Read assigned chapters early and often, come to lecture, start on homework immediately so you will finish on time. If you keep up and keep trying, the concepts will eventually sink in. Turn your homework in on time. Slog through those chapters even if you only understand half of what you read. The fog will clear if you just persist. Don't give up!

2. Work hard on understanding material in the first half of the course

If you have a pretty good feel for the concepts in the first half, the second half will deepen your understanding. If you don't grasp the concepts in the first half, the second half will make no sense. Seek help *early* when you are feeling lost.

3. Stay in touch, and speak up

Come to office hours. You have an experienced instructor and two dedicated TAs, and we want to help! Ask questions--in class, in lab, in your responses, on Blackboard. Forming a clear question helps you discover what you do and do not understand, which is vital to mastering this subject.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Typed Responses are due on Mondays. Handwritten responses not acceptable. Responses must (1) identify the three most important points in the reading (2) state one question or confusion you would like clarified. Refer to specific page numbers for whatever confused you.

Quizzes are on Wednesdays, first thing. So be on time!! Individual quiz followed by group quiz.

Homework is always due on Friday by 3 pm, so TAs have time to grade & return in lab the next week. Turn in during Elizabeth's office hours (Fri 11-1) or bring by Holly's office 2-3 PM. To turn in before Friday at 11, slide under Holly's door. *Put your name and your lab section (1, 2, 3, or 4) on all homework.

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Week One Topic Reading Homework & Tests

Mon, Mar 29: Orientation, Intro to Statistics Ch1 & 2

& Frequency Distributions

Wed, Mar 31: Central Tendency & Variability Chs 3&4 (skip 4.3) *Post on Blackboard *

(Fri, Apr 2: Turn in Homework #1 by 3 PM. See note above about turning in homework)

Week Two

Mon, Apr 5: z-Scores Ch 5 *Responses Chs 3-5*

Wed, Apr 7: Probability Ch 6 QUIZ 1: Chs 1-5

(Fri, Apr 9: Homework #2 due by 3 PM)

Week Three

Mon, Apr 12 Probability & Samples Ch 7 *Responses Chs 6 & 7*

Wed, Apr 14: Intro to Hypothesis Testing Ch 8

(Fri, Apr 16: Homework #3 due by 3 PM)

Week Four

Mon, Apr 19: Intro to t Ch 9 *Responses Chs 8 & 9*

Wed, Apr 21: Independent Samples t Ch 10 QUIZ 2: Chs 5-9

(Fri, Apr 23: Homework #4 due by 3 PM)

Week Five

Mon, Apr 26: Related Samples t Ch 11 *Responses Chs 10 &11*

Wed, Apr 28: Estimation Ch 12 [Midterm practice QQ handed out]

(Fri, Apr 30: Homework #5 due by 3 PM)

Week Six

Mon, May 3: Review of Chapters 7-12 *Responses Ch 12*

(Note: Bring completed Midterm practice Qs to labs; Midterm posted Tuesday after last lab)

Wed, May 5: ANOVA Ch 13

(Fri, May 7: Completed Midterm due by 3 PM Midterm will cover Chs 1-12)

Week Seven

Mon, May 10: Advanced ANOVA Ch 14 *Responses Chs 13 &14*

Wed, May 12: ANOVA mopup & Applications: Difference methods

(Fri, May 14: Homework #6 due by 3 PM)

Week Eight

Mon, May 17: Correlation Ch 15 *Responses Ch 15*

Wed, May 19: Regression Ch 15 QUIZ 3: Ch 13-15

(Fri, May 21: Homework #7 due by 3 PM)

Week Nine

Mon, May 24: Chi-Square, Goodness of Fit Ch 16 *Responses Ch 16*

Wed, May 26: Chi-Square, Independence Ch 16 [Study guide for final handed out]

(Fri, May 28: Homework #8 due by 3 PM)

Week Ten

Mon, May 31 * Memorial day NO CLASS *

(Note: an extra review session will be scheduled to make up for missed Mon lab)

Wed, June 2: Applications and review

Class & groupmate evaluations

Finals Week: FINAL EXAM on Tues, June 8, 15:15-17:15. In 146 Straub (our regular room).

* Bring CALCULATOR, BOOK, NOTES *

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Homework Assignments

Always due Friday, by 3 PM. Turn in to Elizabeth, 11-1, or Holly, 2-3.

Problems are at the end of each chapter. You will have a chance in labs to work on computer homework.

Turn homework in on time! Late homework earns half credit; no credit if more than a week late *unless other arrangements are made in advance with your TA.* To earn full credit, show and explain all work. For problems completed by hand, be sure to show all steps. Printouts from SPSS must be *annotated* to receive full credit. Circle the most important numbers and explain (write directly and legibly on the printout) what they mean. You must demonstrate that you are able to read and understand what you have produced. The book has answers to odd-numbered problems in the back.

Homework 1: Concepts, Scaling, Frequency Tables and Histograms (8 pts)

Ch 1 (p. 27): problems 5,10, 14 & 18; Ch 2, problem 8. You may do problem 8 either using SPSS or by hand. Do not group. [TIP: if SPSS is "grouping" when you don't want it to, click Bar Graph instead of Histogram.] If you use SPSS for problem 8, be sure to include the printout, clearly identify which parts of the printout go with the homework question, and don't forget part c of the question. Put your name on the printout, too!

Points: Problems 5, 10,14: 1 pt each; problem 18, 2 pts, problem 8, 3 pts.

Homework 2: Central Tendency & Variability (8 pts)

Ch 3, problems 9 & 10. Ch 4, problems 13 [by hand] & 14 [with variations as described below] *Do 14 (by hand, showing all steps) and treat as a SAMPLE (and get the sample variance & SD), not as a population (step 1). Then use SPSS to find the mean, sample variance, and standard deviation for the data (step 2). Then (step 3) change the numbers around until you have a data set with the SAME mean and n, but twice the sample variance as the original data set (use trial and error method!). Include output from SPSS showing the mean, variance, & sd for original and altered data sets, annotate to clarify which parts of the printout go with steps 2 & 3, and include the numbers in the altered data set you created for step 3.

Points: Ch 3, #9&10, 1 pt each & Ch 4, #13, 2 pts: #14: 4 pts.

Homework 3: z-Scores & the Normal Curve (8 pts)

Ch 5, problems 2, 4, 5, 20. For question 20, be sure to explain your answer. Ch 6, problems 7ab, 10ac, 11cd. No SPSS homework this week.

Points: Problem 5 worth 2 pts; Other problems worth 1 pt each.

Homework 4: Distribution of Sample Means, z-test & t-test (8 pts)

Ch 7, problems 10 & 24. Ch 8, problems 6 & 8. Ch 9, problems 3 & 12. Be sure to show all work and explain answers fully. No SPSS homework this week.

Points: Problem 8 worth 3 pts. Other problems worth 1 pt each.

Homework 5: t-Tests with Independent Samples and Related Samples (12 pts)

Ch 10, problems 14ab & 18a. Ch 11, problems 4 & 22. Do Ch 10 problem18a & Ch 11 problem 22 both by hand and on SPSS. On the "by hand" versions, state the research question, follow step-by-step method and number steps, and end with answer to research question. Annotate printout by circling the key elements in the output and explaining what the output shows.

Points: Ch 10 #14 & Ch 11 #4, 1 pt each. Ch 10 #18 & Ch 11 # 22, 5 pts each.

Homework 6: Estimation, ANOVA (17 pts)

Ch. 12, problems 3, 5 & 12. Ch 13, problems 5, 13 & 23. Do the ANOVA for Ch. 13 # 23 both by hand and using SPSS (note: treat the birth variable as a fixed effect). For by hand version, state research question, follow and show all steps given in G&W pp. 334-336, and also create an ANOVA summary table (as shown on p. 336). In SPSS version, do both Scheffé and Tukey post-hoc tests. Annotate output, including explaining results (what did you find?)

Points: Both #5, 1 pt. Ch. 12 #3, 12, 1.5 pt. Ch 13 #13, 2 pts; #23 by hand, #23 SPSS, 5 pts each.

Homework 7: Advanced ANOVA & Correlation (16 pts)

Ch 14, problems 15ab (draw graph for each set), 21 (by hand) & 22 (SPSS). Ch 15, problems 3, 7 (by hand), 12, 18 (using SPSS). Do #22 ANOVA using SPSS (not by hand). Request a plot for help in interpreting the interaction. Annotate output, including an explanation of your results. For problem 18, after finding the correlation for the data in the book, change the correlation substantially by adding an outlier (make up the data for this person). Hand in annotated printouts for both original and modified data sets (identify which is which, and write down the data for the outlier you added). Explain on the modified printout what you learned from the exercise about the possible impact of a single case on correlation.

Points: Ch 14 #15ab & #21, 2 pts each, # 22, 4 pts; Ch 15 #7 & #18, 3 pts each; #3 & 12, 1 pt each.

Homework 8: Regression & Chi-Square (13 pts)

Ch 15, problem 21, by hand. Ch 16, problems 3, 6, & 15. Do all chi-square problems by hand, showing all work and going step by step, and explaining the answer to the research question at the end. In addition, do problem 15 using SPSS (be sure to request EXPECTED as well as OBSERVED counts). Annotate printout.

Points: Ch 15, #21, 2 pts. Ch 16: 3 pts each for 3, 6,15 by hand, 2 pts for #15 SPSS